REUTERS
Importers' demand for foreign currency was high last month.
A surge in volatility on Ukraine's forex market in October was caused by energy and consumer goods importers' growing demand for foreign currency, as well as demand for cash currency.
In October, the forex rate slightly adjusted, but remains higher than as of the beginning of the year, the National Bank of Ukraine said in its new macroeconomic and monetary review.
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"A short-term surge in volatility was caused by a certain increase in demand from importers of energy carriers and consumer goods, as well as the prevalence of demand over supply on the cash market," the review said.
In general, the situation on the foreign exchange market was favorable, which allowed the National Bank to continue buying foreign currency to replenish the country's international reserves.
In October 2019, the regulator's foreign currency purchases on the interbank market exceeded sales by almost US$200 million. The difference since the beginning of the year has reached US$4.1 billion.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the official forex rate of the Ukrainian hryvnia in October weakened by 2.6% against the U.S. dollar, to UAH 24.82 per U.S. dollar, but remained 10.4% higher than early this year. Ukraine's national budget for 2019 is based on the projected forex rate set at UAH 29.4 per U.S. dollar as of the end of the year.